A proverb
from Ghana declares that: A woman is a flower in a garden; her husband
is the fence around it'." (1). That is a beautiful picture of women in
African society. In this paper I wish to examine the place and the role
of women according to African Religion. The paper focuses on three areas:
mythology, proverbs and prayers. In the area of mythology we are confronted
with the picture of women in the early state of human existence. This is
not history. The myth is broader than history in explaining some aspects
of society. It is a language of expressing truths or realities for which
history does not supply a full explanation.

Proverbs
are expressions of wisdom acquired through reflection, experience, observation
and general knowledge. They are intimately related to the culture of a
given society. To appreciate, understand and properly apply the proverbs,
it is necessary to be part of the culture concerned, or to study it carefully.
We are not able in this paper to go into the depth entailed in proverbs,
but examining or quoting some of them here will give us a working picture
or what the religious wisdom of African peoples says about women.

Prayers
take us into the spirituality of those who pray them. they show us among
other things, the inner person, the needs of the heart (both joy and sorrow,
gratitude and disappointment, expectation and anxiety), as the praying
person stands 'naked' before spiritual realities. We want to see what women
say in prayer, and thereby to get a glimpse into their spiritual life as
that may be nourished by African Religion and as it may in turn contribute
to African Religion itself.

The
sources of the material used in the paper are given at the end. Only names
of authors and pages of their works appear in the text, at the end of a
particular quotation or summary of the information so used.

1.
WOMEN IN AFRICAN MYTHOLOGY

A large
number of myths is to be found in Africa. Every African people (tribe)
has its own body of myths, stories, legends and oral history. We want to
concentrate here mainly on the myths dealing with the origin of human beings,
since women are featured very prominently in these myths.

Some
myths speak about an original Mother of mankind, from whom all people originated.
For example, the Akposso (of Togo) tell that when Uwolowu (God) made men,
He first made a woman on the earth and bore with her the first child, the
first human being (2). The Ibibio (of Nigeria) say that human beings came
from the divinity Obumo, which was the son of the mother-divinity Eka-Abassi
(3). It is told in eastern Africa about a virgin woman Ekao, who fell on
earth from the sky and bore a son; the son got married to another woman
and founded human society (4). Other examples are mentioned by Baumann
(5). The main idea here, is to link human life directly with God through
the woman. She is created by God, and in turn becomes the instrument of
human life. She rightly becomes the one who passes on life. This is beautifully
illustrated in a myth of the Tutsi (of Rwanda). They tell that the original
pair of human beings was in paradise. But both the man and woman were sterile,
they could not bear children. So they begged God to help them. God mixed
clay with saliva and formed a small human figure. He instructed the woman
to put the figure into a pot and keep it there for nine months. Every day
the woman had to pour milk into the pot, mornings and evenings. She was
to take out the figure only when it had grown limbs. So she followed these
instructions and after nine months she pulled out what had now become a
human being. God made other human beings according to this method, and
these later increased on the earth (S). The pot is here a symbol of the
womb of a mother, in which a baby takes shape and after nine months it
is born. The woman shares directly with God in a personal way, the secrets
and mysteries of life and birth. This role of the woman in sharing in the
mysteries of life started already in the mythological time.

In
other myths of man's origin, the woman is always or nearly always mentioned.
In many cases even the name of the first woman is given in the myths, and
some myths mention only the name of the woman and not of the man. A lot
of the myths say that the first human pair was lowered by God from the
sky to the ground (earth), such as the myths of the Akamba, Turkana, Luo,
Luhyia and others in Kenya; these of the Baganda and Banyoro in Uganda;
these of the Tutsi in Rwanda; of the Bomba and Ila in Zambia; these of
the Yoruba and Ibo in Nigeria, and many others.

In
a few myths, it is told that the woman was made by God out of the man's
body, or after the man had been made. Perhaps behind these myths is the
wish and practice on the part of males (men) to dominate women. For example,
the Kwotto (of Nigeria) say that God made the first human beings out of
the earth (soil). God made (created) first the husband, and when He had
become tired, lie then made the wife (woman) who turned out to be weaker
than her husband (7).

Fire
is an important element in human life. In some myths it is the women who
either invented or discovered fire. Women are also credited with inventing
or discovering foodstuffs and their preparations. Thus the cooking skills
of the woman are attributed to her from mythological times. She is thus
not only the bearer of human beings, but also their cook who provides them
with nourishment.

The
life of the first human beings is generally depicted as having been in
a form of paradise. God provided for them, in some cases they lived in
the sky (heaven) with Him or lie was on earth with them; God gave them
one of three important gifts: immortality, resurrection (if they died)
or rejuvenation (if they grew old). However, this paradise got lost, the
earth and heaven separated, God went to live up in heaven while men lived
on the earth, the three gifts got lost and in their place there came diseases,
suffering and death. There are many myths which address themselves to this
change of human fortune. Some speak about a message which God sent to people,
but which either did not reach them or was changed by the messenger on
the way, or the messenger arrived just too late to find that a faster messenger
from God had brought another message. Myths of the lost or changed or later
arrived message are very widespread in eastern, southern and parts of western
Africa. The carrier of this message (generally one of immortality, resurrection
or rejuvenation) is often the chameleon; while the carrier of the contra
message is often the lizard, the hare, the weaver bird or the frog.

In
some cases the myths speak of a test which God put to the original people.
They failed. So the misfortunes of death and suffering, of God's separation
from men came about. Other myths explain that this occurred as a result
of jealousies and quarrels within human families. Still in other myths,
the cause originated from animals, like the hyena which, being (always)
hungry sought and ate the leather rope that had united heaven (sky) and
earth (8).

There
are, however, considerable myths which put the blame on the women. Thus,
for ex9mple, it was a woman who in Ashanti myths (of Ghana), while pounding
fufu (national food) went on knocking against God Who lived in the sky.
So God decided to go higher up. The good woman instructed her children
to construct a tower by piling up the mortars one on top or another. The
tower almost reached God, leaving a gap which could be filled with only
one mortar; Since the children had used up all the mortars, their mother
advised them to take the bottom-most mortar and fill the gap. As they removed
this mortar, the whole tower tumbled down and killed many people. In one
of the Pygmy (Bambuti) myths, it is told that God gave the first people
one rule: they could eat the fruits of all the trees, except from one tree.
The people observed this rule, until a pregnant woman was overcome by desire
and persistently urged her husband to get the forbidden fruit for her.
Finally he crept secretly into the forest, plucked the fruit and brought
it to her. However, the moon was watching all this and went and reported
it to God. God became so angry that lie sent death to the people as punishment.

While
the woman is in these and some other myths blamed for the misfortune that
befell the first human beings, she is clearly not the main nor the only
culprit. Indeed the myths that put the blame on her are proportionally
few. They indicate that she shares in the cause and effect of suffering,
misfortune and death in the world. She is a human being like men and children.
She is also raced with the mysteries of life at the other end -- just as
she shares in the mysteries of life's beginning, so she shares in lire's
end.

Through
the myths of origin, we get a picture of the woman as someone placed by
God in a special position. She shares with Him the creative process of
life. In some ways her position and her role in these myths eclipses the
position of the husband (male). She is in a real sense the mother of human
beings, the dispenser of life, howbeit as an agent of God. At the same
time the woman shares in the misfortunes, suffering and death which in
various ways came into the world.

We
shall now consider the woman as seen and depicted in African wisdom, in
the proverbs of the ages.

2.
WOMEN IN AFRICAN PROVERBS

Proverbs
are infinitely more numerous than myths. We find them by the hundreds and
thousands in every African people (tribe). They address themselves to many
themes and areas of life and knowledge. They are very concentrated in the
sense that they put a lot of thoughts, ideas, reflections, experiences,
observations, knowledge and even world views, into a few words. We shall
here quote only a few proverbs and try to capture what they intend to put
in a few words.

a)
Women are extremely valuable in the sight of society. Not only do they
bear life, but they nurse, they cherish, they give warmth, they care for
life since all human life passes through their own bodies. The following
proverbs bring these points out clearly.

"Wives
and oxen have no friends" (9). This indicates that a wife is so valuable
that she cannot be given over to even the best friends of her husband.
For that reason, another proverb reminds us that: "A woman must not be
killed" (10). She is the mother of life, and to kill the woman is to kill
children, to kill humanity itself. The woman should be handled with respect
and not be treated as if she were a slave. So another proverb asks the
husband: "Did you buy me with elephant tusks?" (11), if the husband is
ill-treating her. She reminds him that he really cannot buy her, she is
not a commodity for sale like elephant tusks or slaves.

Even
an aged woman is a blessing to men. So another proverb says: "It is better
to be married to an old lady than to remain unmarried" (12). There are
areas of human life which only the woman can fulfil. The unmarried man
is lacking something, as one proverb explains: "It is at five that man
succeeds" (13). The Maasai who use this proverb explain that a successful
life needs "a wife, a cow, a sheep, a goat, and a donkey". This would mean,
that even if one is rich, one is not successful as long as one lacks a
wife.

The
value of the woman begins already when she is born and not when she gets
married. So it is stated: "A baby girl means beautiful cows" (14). Already
at birth the woman is destined to be married. In traditional African society
this entails a bride-exchange in form of cattle, services, foodstuffs,
family ties, or other expressions of the marriage contract. Furthermore,
the woman will bear children and thus enrich her husband and the wider
circle of relatives from both sides. So the Tsonga and Shangana people
of South Africa (Azania) say: "To beget a woman is to beget a man" (15).
This saying carries with it the hope and expectation, that after marriage,
the wife will bear both girls and boys.

b)
The woman who is not married has practically no role in society, in African
traditional world-view. It is expected that all women get married. So a
proverb states: "an ugly girl does not become old at home" (16), which
means that the looks of a girl should not stop her from getting married.
Otherwise this would deny her the role of womanhood.

This
thought is bound up with the value of bearing children. The childless woman
goes through deep sorrows in African society. So it is said, for example:
"The woman who has children does not desert her home" (17). This means
that bearing children gives the woman the security and joy of a family,
of being taken care of in her old age, of being respected by the husband
and the wider society. So "the woman whose sons have died is richer than
a barren woman" (18), is intended to say that people will excuse a woman
for losing her children through death, but the one who does not bear is
hardly 'excused'. Consequently people say: "A barren wire never gives thanks"
(19) - nothing else is as valuable as children. If a woman has everything
else, except children, she would have no cause or joy to give thanks. The
sentiment is expressed in African societies, that the more children one
has the better. So the Ghanaians say: "A serviceable wife is often blessed
with the birth of a tenth child" (20). Parental blessings often run along
the lines of: "May you bear children like bees! May you bear children like
calabash seeds!" Today's economic and educational pressure will force a
change in these sentiments, where parents reel the need to reduce the number
of children they can support and educate adequately. Nevertheless, African
society is carried away by the proverb which says: "The satiety of a pregnant
woman is off-spring" (21). This means that motherhood is a woman's fulfillment.

c)
The mother or wife is probably the most important member of the family,
the centre of familyhood. So it is said by the Akamba of Kenya for example:
"he who has not traveled thinks that his mother is the best cook in the
world." This proverb, while attacking a narrow horizon in life, shows how
central the person of the mother is. This sentiment is aired in another
proverb from the Gikuyu of Kenya: "The baby that refuses its mother's breast,
will never be full" (22). Other people may feed the baby or the person,
but their food would never satisfy as well as that provided by the mother.

The
place of the mother is further indicated by comparing her with other
women or wives, whether she is alive or dead. The Swahili of East Africa
say categorically: "The step mother is not a real mother" (23). This sentiment
is shared by other peoples and is expressed in various ways. For example:
"Somebody else's mother, however good to you she may be, she can never
be better than your own mother", or "Your step mother is not your mother",
or "A sheep does not lament the death of a goat's kid" (24), all from the
Acholi of Uganda. Their neighbours the Lugbara put it this way: "There
are no two mothers", or "There is not another mother" (25). From southern
Africa we hear: "The mother's breast cannot get leprosy" (26). All these
and many other proverbs are indications that the mother's role cannot be
one hundred percent duplicated: she provides (or should provide) the best
love and tenderness, warmth, care, bodily and emotional nourishment, and
much more. All this begins already, when the person is inside the mother's
womb and lasts (or should last) until the mother has died or indeed, it
continues when she dies and becomes a spirit, a living dead. It also means
that the love, the care and tenderness should be reciprocated by everyone
towards his or her own mother, since everyone has a mother. So we hear
proverbs like: "A chi]d does not laugh at the ugliness of his mother" (27),
from the Lugbara of Uganda; or "The mother of the big he-goat has no horns"
(28), from the Akamba of Kenya. This last proverb indicates that all the
"big" men (like artists, generals, presidents, bishops, doctors, professors,
inventors, singers, scientists and so one) are each born of a woman, of
a mother who may not herself be regarded as a "big" person in society.
She may not "have horns", but she gives birth to a "big" person in society.

d)
Women are human beings and as such they also have their weaknesses. African
society knows those weaknesses and speaks about them. One of them is jealously,
especially when several wives live in a polygamous family. Three proverbs
from the Lugbara of Uganda illustrate this weakness: "The tongue of co-wives
is bitter", "The tongue of co-wives is pointed" (which means that the co-wives
can sting each other with their talking), and "A co-wife is the owner of
jealousy" (29). Such domestic problems can affect the husband who has the
task of pleasing each wife. So a Uhanajan proverb says: "Polygamy makes
a husband a double-tongued man" (30). The husband's role is not easy if
the co-wives do not get on well with each other. He may be seen to favour
one more than the others. In this case he could be rebuked with a proverb
like: "This polygamist ploughs one field only" (31). This could indicate
that in fact the husband provokes the co-wives to show jealousy, when they
realise that he favours one more than the others.

The
fact that jealousy may arise in polygamous families is not basis enough
to condemn polygamy as such. There are many happy polygamous families just
as there are even more unhappy monogamous families. Indeed, there are proverbs
that show and urge respect for polygamous families. For example: "Uncriticised,
are you the senior wife?" (32), used by the Lugbara, to remind people that
the senior wife is the focus of highest respect in the family, but she
too is not perfect and if need be can also be criticised. In any case she
has more respect by being a co-wife than she would have if she were the
only wife (in a monogamous family). It is said in Kenya: "Axes carried
in the same bag cannot avoid rattling", to mean among other things, that
it is not so terrible if co-wives "rattle" with each other. Indeed, a proverb
from the Tsonga of southern Africa can be applied to support the "value"
or "necessity" of co-wives: "A pole is strengthened by another pole" (33).
If women in African society would have found polygamy to be unbearable,
the custom would have long ago. One proverb reminds us that in such families
there are mutual support and love and care: "The way to overcome cold is
to warm each other" (34).

e)
There are also prejudices shown to women in African societies. It is amazing,
that similar prejudices are found in other societies of the world. I give
here some examples of proverbs of prejudice or judgement towards women.
Among the Tsonga-Shangana people of southern Africa, some women earn the
remark: "This woman is fire", or "This woman is a deceitful and ferocious
crocodile" (35). Even the beauty of women may earn them remarks like: "Do
not desire a woman with beautiful breast, if you have no money!" (36),
to mean that beautiful women are expensive to win and maintain. The Gikuyu
in Kenya say: "Women, like the weather, are unpredictable", and "Women
have no secure gourds, but only leaking upside down ones" (37). The second
of these means that "women are given to letting out secrets. You can't
trust women with secrets". In a beautiful expression the same point is
made using the proverb: "Woman, remember that the mouth is sometimes covered
with a branch" (38), to mean that she cannot keep a secret.

It
is thought that women ruin men. So the Maasai remind us: "The prostitute
can make you useless" (39), of course without saying what men do to women!
The Maasai also accuse the women of being short-sighted by saying that:
"A woman cannot see her palm" (40). In Uganda the Acholi complain that:
"Women have no chiefs" (41), to mean that "women cannot allow another woman
to be superior. In another sense, a chief is not a chief to his own wife
or wives, or even to other women". Naturally, when the men occupy so many
of the superior positions in society, what more is left for women? The
woman is often blamed for disputes in a marriage. So there are proverbs
in Tanzania for example, which say:
"A lazy wife does not miss going to
her parents frequently", or "The good wife at her husband's home, the other
one is at her parents' home" (42). But what happens to lazy men, or do
they not exist? Women are also accused of domineering their husbands (whatever
the realities may actually be): "No man is a hero to his wife" (43).

Men
complain that they cannot understand women. So the Ghanaians say: "When
women increase in wealth, they are silent. But when they fall into trouble,
the whole world gets to know." In another saying we hear that: "In a town
where there are no men, even women praise a hunch back for being the fastest
runner" (44)

There
are men (and women) who fear women, considering them to be dangerous. So
we hear proverbs like: "To marry is to put a snake in one's handbag", and
even to take up contact with women is an evasive undertaking: "One does
not follow the footprints in the water" (45), which means that "following
a woman is like footprints in water", because "the way soon vanishes".
It is even claimed that words of women have no legal value, they are not
reliable: "Women have no court" (46). They even ruin men: "Marriage roasts
(hardens)" (47), is said to mean that a man's heart hardens after marriage,
because of his wife. Even beautiful women get a share of prejudice: "Beautiful
from behind, ugly in front" (48), a proverb which warns that a person may
look attractive or say nice words at first, but after marriage turns out
to be really ugly.

f)
In spite of these and other prejudices, there are many beautiful things
said about women. Some of these we have already encountered. Men will fight
over women - to show how much they value the women concerned. So in Ghana
we hear that: "Two bosom friends that vie one and the same lady have chosen
a common read to be each other's enemy" (49). Compared to a man, the woman
is more precious: "The woman is a banana tree (which multiplies itself);
the man however, is a cornstalk (which stands alone)" (50). It is also
from Ghana where we have the beautiful comparison and mutual complement
between the wife and the husband: "Woman is a flower in a garden; her husband,
the fence around it" (51). So the women need all the protection that men
can give them. For this reason the Lugbara say: "The man dies in the wind,
the woman in the house" (52). The woman and the man belong together, can
and do love each other, they need each other. In Lugbara proverb we are
told: "The woman is the rib of man" (53), a statement which is parallel
to the Biblical creation story in Genesis 2, 21-22. The Akamba warn against
the danger of remaining unmarried: "He who eats alone, dies alone" -- he
leaves neither wife nor posterity to remember him in the world of the living.

3.
WOMEN AND PRAYERS

In
traditional African life women play a significant role in the religious
activities of society. One of the areas where this role is prominent, is
in offering prayers for their families in particular and their communities
in general. In many areas there were (and still are) women priests (priestesses);
almost everywhere in Africa the mediums (who are so important in traditional
medical practice) are nearly always women; those who experience spirit
possession are in most cases also women. Traditional healing is a profession
of both men and women and it is more often the women practitioners who
handle children's and other women 5 medical needs. In this paper we have
space for only a few prayers which illustrate how actively involved are
the women in the spirituality of African Religion. The examples are cited
out of my own book (54), so that there is no need to indicate the source
each time.

A women's
morning prayer runs: "Morning has risen; God, take away from us every pain,
every ill, every mishap; God, let us come safely home" (55). [n this prayer
the woman brings before God her family and hands it over to God, believing
that He will keep away all evil. It is a Pygmy prayer.

A litany
for a sick child is offered by women, addressing it specially to the departed
members of the family who are thought to exercise healing power especially
by conveying the request to God. It comes from the Aro of Sierra Leone.
Mother prays: "0 spirits of the past, this little one I hold is my child;
she is your child also, therefore, be gracious unto her". The other women
chant: "She has come into a world of trouble: sickness is in the world,
and cold and pain; the pain you knew, the sickness with which you were
familiar". The mother prays on: "Let her sleep in peace, for there is healing
in sleep. Let none among you be angry with me or with my child". The women
take up their chanting: "Let her grow, let her become strong. Let her become
full-grown. Then will she offer such a sacrifice to you that will delight
your heart" (56). In this prayer we see how close the women feel to the
spirit-world. They enter into it, they solicit help from it. The physical
and spiritual world mingle here in a harmony of 'going' and 'coming'. The
women depict here a deep sensitivity towards the invisible and spiritual
realities.

A woman
whose husband is away fighting in war, prays for his protection and safe
return. She prays not just for him alone, but for others who are with him.
Like all similar prayers, it is a on-sided prayer, favouring one side.
It comes from the Banyarwanda. "Let him be saved with those who went with
him! Let him stand firm with them. Let him return from the battle with
them..." (57). In this way the women participate in fighting on the side
of their husbands. The husbands would certainly feel encouraged to get
this form of spiritual support from their wives.

Recognising
that menstruation is intimately linked to the passing on of life, many
African peoples perform a ceremony in Ghana, the Ashanti mother of the
concerned girl prays that she may grow to full maturity and bear children.
This is the wish of every mother for her children. "Nyankonpon Tweaduapon
Nyame (God) upon whom men lean and do not fall, receive this wine and drink.
Earth Goddess, whose day of worship is a Thursday, receive this wine and
drink. Spirit of our ancestors, receive this wine and drink. This girl
child whom God has given to me, today the Bara state has come upon her...
Do not come and take her away, and do not have permitted her to menstruate
only to die" (58).

In
many parts of Africa it does not always rain enough. Rainmaking ceremonies
are performed, at which sacrifices, offering and prayers are made to God,
beseeching Him to give more rain or to let it rain. Here is one such prayer
made by Maasai women (Kenya. and Tanzania). The woman leader intones one
part, while other people present for the occasion sing or recite the other:

Leader:
"We need herbs on the earth's back! "

Others:
Hie! Wae! Almighty God.

Leader:
"The father of Nasira has conquered, has conquered. "

Others:
The highlands and also the lowlands of our vast country which belongs to
thee, O God.

Leader:
"May this be our year, ours in plenty (when you grant us rain!)

Others:
"O messenger of Mbatian's son" (59).

This
prayer is for the welfare of people, animals and nature at large, since
all depend on water for their survival.

Women
express gratitude to God, after childbirth. Then they know that life comes
ultimately from Him and is sustained by Him. The following prayer is said
by Pygmy women in a ceremony of dedicating a baby to God. The mother and
father lift the baby towards the sky and pray: "To Thee, the Creator, to
Thee, the Powerful, I offer this fresh bud, new fruit of the ancient tree.
Thou art the Master, we thy children. To Thee, the Creator, to Thee, the
Powerful: Khmvoum (God), Khmvoum, I offer this new plant" (60).

The
sorrows of being childless go very deep in the wife. There are many prayers
for help in such situations. From an affected woman of the Barundi, we
feel with her the agony of her spirit, when she prays: "0 Imana (God) of
Urundi, if only you would help me! 0 Imana of pity, Imana of my father's
home, if only you would help me!... 0 Imana, if only you would give me
a homestead and children! I prostrate myself before you, Imana of Urundi.
I cry to you: Give me off-spring, give me as you give to others! Imana,
what shall I do, where shall I go? I am in distress: where is there room
for me? 0 Merciful, O Imana of mercy, help this once!" (61).

Death
also brings with it its own sorrows and problems, and many prayers are
offered in such times. The following prayer pours out desperation with
the same forcefulness as the previous prayer: "My husband, you have abandoned
me. My master is gone and will never return. I am lost. I have no hope.
For you used to fetch water and collect firewood for me. You used, to clothe
and feed me with good things... Where shall I go?" (62).

It
is clear, that women both participate in the religious activities of society
and make their own contributions for the spiritual welfare of their lives,
their families and of society at large. The prayers are small window that
opens into their spirituality which indeed is the spirituality of all human
beings. As they share with God in the great mysteries of passing on life,
so they share also in giving human life a spiritual orientation. They are
truly flowers in the garden. They give life beauty, scent and seed.